After government advisers created a political tsunami last year by saying women under 50 don’t need regular breast-cancer checkups, Washington lawmakers aim to reverse that recommendation after urging by GE and others, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Legislators plan to include a provision in the final health reform bill that would mandate insurance coverage for mammograms, the Journal says. Last month, the Senate included a similar measure in its reform package, which passed on Christmas Eve.
Leading the lobbying effort in Washington: mammogram makers General Electric and Siemens AG, radiologists, and nonprofit cancer-support groups. The parties are in a group that calls itself the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition.
General Electric criticized the panel’s recommendation in November, saying that the exams save lives. It’s also a heavy hitter in Washington, spending almost $20 million lobbying through the first three quarters of last year. The company’s GE Healthcare unit, which makes mammograms, spent $150,000 lobbying through September 30, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Siemens spent almost $3.7 million in that period.
Article by Brett Chase orignally posted at Portfolio.com